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Whelping Puppies
Pictures and Stories - Yorkshire Terrier Bea - Stay with your dam...
"This was my first time at whelping, I read and reread all of the information daily on dogbreedinfo.com and had the optimistic outlook that no matter what happened, I was prepared for anything. Our dam, Bea, is a 20 month old, holistically raised maiden yorkshire terrier in the prime of her life. We had our vet's approval to breed and found a handsome stud that complimented her like to like. He was significantly smaller so we weren't too worried...she was 5.5lbs and he was 3lbs."
"Perhaps if I had worried a little more disaster wouldn't have struck."
"It was 64 days past her last mating and her temperature dipped to 98.2F. After this she stayed in first stage labor for 16 hours, eating, drinking, snuggling and doing everything like her normal self only spending more time in her whelp box. I went to class and my husband stayed home with Bea, checking in on her every 1/2 hour to see if she progressed into second stage. The husband called to let me know she was panting and digging. I hit the road and figured it would be at least an hour before she had her first pup. I was wrong. His mistake - he left her alone during labor. Then he called back to say he had a lifeless puppy and didn't know what to do with it. I knew it was a lost cause the moment I started belting out directions on how to recussitate over the phone... he had no clue what I was talking about and was so scared he ended up hardly doing anything. I was 20 minutes away yelling 'RUB HER!!! RUB HER HARD WITH THE TOWEL AND GET HER BREATHING!' over my cellphone going 80 mph down the freeway just WILLING the police to try and pull me over now! I hung up the phone to call the mid-woof who was in bed and wouldn't come. When I arrived I literally flew up the stairs and grasped the lifeless, colorless, hopeless pup and worked on her for another half hour, long past when I should have given up."
I was so torn... I knew there were only two pups due for this litter and I had just lost 50%! I had waited and waited for weeks, praying and pampering and spending hours feeling the little puppies moving around inside of her. Now I was holding my lifeless end result, a beautiful little female who was in every way perfect while her mother-driven dam begged for her back. It was my worst nightmare."
"I weighed the little gem before offering her back to the dam so she could see she was dead. The pup weighed in at 7oz....rather a BIG pup for a 5.5lb dam! I can only hypothesize that she strained on her for too long and the stuck pup drowned. After I sent my wide-eyed husband to bed I buckled down for the next pup. I could only assume the worst. Checking for fetal heartbeats with my stethoscope in the remaining uterine horn I did not hear anything. Depressed I sunk down beside the whelp box to wait. It was an hour and a half between pups before she started straining. I chewed up some calcium and gave it to her after the first contraction. Five minutes into strong pushing and I got a foot. Great, a foot! And that's it. Just a foot. I decided to work with what I had, wrapping the foot in a towel and gently pulling toward the dam's belly on every contraction. Soon I got another foot and a tail - so the baby was breach but stuck solid around the middle. I took a deep breath, mentally rehursing 'you can't kill a dead puppy' and pulled with the last strong contraction. The pup came out screaming, struggling like a banshee and let out the most rachous cry even the mother jumped back in fright. Well it was a no brainer, I suctioned out her mouth and nostrils, rubbed her dry and pinched the cord 1/2 from the base while the mother chewed it down."
"Another little female, 6 oz, strong and vocal. After getting some colustrum she took a tour of the whelp box before settling in for the night."
"DON'T leave your dam alone - Bea had a completely silent second and third stage labor, she never made a peep! My husband had no clue she was even having contractions when he checked in on her. Also DON'T expect someone else to care as much as you do about your puppies. You are the only one that can do this, you have to be there!"
Surviving puppy - Calamity Jane
"Bea and "Calamity Jane" are doing well."
Calamity, the Yorkie puppy at 3 weeks old.
Calamity, the Yorkie puppy at 4 weeks old.
Whelping Puppies Picture Pages
If you have pictures of
your dam giving birth that you would like to share
Send them in!
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Although this section is based on a
whelping of an English Mastiff, it also contains good general whelping
information in large breed dogs. You can find more whelping information in the links above. The links below
tell a story about Sassy, an English Mastiff. Sassy has a wonderful temperament.
She loves humans and Adores human children. An all around mild mannered,
wonderful Mastiff. Sassy however is not the best mother towards her puppies, she
is not rejecting them, she will nurse them when a human places them on her to
feed, however she will not clean the pups or pay any attention to them. It is as
if, they are not her puppies. This litter is getting moms milk, with major human
interaction, manually giving each and every pup what they need. In return, the
pups will be super socialized and will make remarkable pets, however the work
involved is astounding. It takes one dedicated breeder to keep this situation
healthy. Thankfully this litter has just that, a dedicated breeder. Read the
links below to get the full story. There is a wealth of info that everyone can
appreciate and benefit from.
C-Section in a Large Breed Dog
Newborn Puppies... What you need
Whelping Mastiff Puppies One to Three Days Old
Things do
not always go as planned (imperforate anus)
Orphaned Litter (not the plan)
10
Days Old Plus ++
3 Week Old Puppies
Puppies 3 Weeks - time to start
potty training
Puppies 4 weeks old
Puppies 5 weeks old
Puppies 6 weeks old
Puppies 7 weeks old
Socializing the Puppies
Mastitis in Dogs
Whelping Large Breed Dogs Main
Whelping, a new
found respect
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